Escape the Mundane + Experience the Remarkable

How College Ruined My Life and What You Can Learn from My Mistakes

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Perspective

Sixty-eight thousand four hundred seventy-two.

Awfully large number… I’ll see if numerically helps:

68,472

Nope. Still large.

68,472… 68,472… 68,472…

Shoot, it doesn’t get smaller after repeating. Ugh!

So what is this number? It’s not my favorite number, that’s for sure. Actually, this number is the amount of student loan debt I accrued over my three years in college. 3 years = $68,472 … whoah! That’s roughly $62 a day, every day for three solid years.

The Debt Snowball

Before getting into it, let’s first travel back to my 18th year of life. I have a thriving business (I started when I was 12) implementing technology in residences & offices, as well as designing websites for businesses. I’m maintaining a 3.9 Advanced Honors GPA without any effort. And I have zero debt. Basically, life is good.

Having grown up as a minority from an Indian reservation along with a superior ACT score, I am besieged by college recruiters. From Ivy leagues to west coast universities, I truly have the pick of any school in the nation. But being a nervous teenager leaving my loving home for the first time, I choose the best private college within a half-day’s driving distance. And I love it. New friends, new town, new everything… College life is for me.

Fast-forward to 4 months later. I find myself in a seemingly endless line waiting to sell back my books from a successful first semester… After an absurd couple of hours in line, I’m up! From a wave of seller’s remorse, I keep my Intro to Psych textbook as well as my Econ book out of sheer interest in the subjects. But I decide to ditch the Middle East History book and an overpriced piece of crap that is my Business Computing book. Or so I thought.

Apparently history changes because the college didn’t renew my history book, which means they wouldn’t buy it back. But that’s understandable, there’s a lot going on over there and times are changing.

But the real kick in the pants?

They would not accept the Business Computing book due to a campus wide Microsoft Office upgrade…

Which means I spent the past semester force-fed outdated information.

My Educational Catharsis

Two days later – heartbroken from the realization in the bookstore – I return home for the winter break. There I reconnect with my older brother, Frank, who knowingly or unknowingly changes my life forever. A simple gesture, yet with powerful effects, he gives me an audiobook. And no, not a fictional book about vampires and elves. He gives me How to Win Friends and Influence People. And a complete paradigm shift ensues.
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Appreciating the Small Things of Life

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Minimalism

laundry day

Since giving away everything, I currently own 6 shirts, 2 pairs of jeans, 3 pairs of shorts and a handful of other clothing.

Yesterday I was down to my last clean set of clothes. And faced with my usually dreaded act of needing to do laundry.

But this time was different. It wasn’t a chore. It wasn’t annoying.

It was enjoyable.

Yes, you heard that correctly. Doing laundry was enjoyable.

Why was this?

This is tough to answer. And coming from a guy who used to pay a lot of money weekly to have the laundry done professionally, I’ve put a lot of thought into why I was happy to do laundry.

My conclusion?
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I’m Going Homeless to Find Meaning

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Perspective

My Only Possession

In two weeks I will be emptying my house, putting all of my possessions in storage, and taking the leap into volunteered homelessness.

It’s a daunting transition. But necessary to start building my dream life.

For those of you familiar with my genius business partner, Greg Hartle and his remarkable Ten Dollars and a Laptop project, you may be having a bit of deja vu. Well fear not, I’m not stepping on his toes nor stealing his thunder. Personally, he is an extreme motivator and mentor towards minimalism.

I am, however, finally setting in motion a plan I created about 4 years ago.

I’ve never played by the rules. I was a disinterested student throughout college. A rebellious employee in the corporate world. And most unconventional, an avid couch-surfer during impromptu adventures.
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The #1 Skill Needed to Succeed in Anything

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Mentality

We all want to be successful. It’s a given. But unfortunately most people find themselves staring at a glass ceiling. Unable to leap to the next levels in their careers and life, forever locked into their current scenario.

Why is this?

While I cannot make sweeping conclusions, nor assume everyone can become successful. A majority of people are lacking in the ability to sell. And I’m not saying they cannot sell real estate or life insurance. They fail to sell their ideas.

Think about this for a moment:

When you call a coworker for immediate action to support your project, what are you doing? Selling your need for help.

When you plead with your kids to eat their green beans, what are you doing? Selling the benefits of green beans.

Or most importantly, when you approach your boss for a raise or promotion, what are you doing? Selling yourself.
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How I Accidentally Created a Successful Business at the Age of 12

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Perspective

The summer of 1998 was life altering. I was entering 7th grade in a small school on the Lac du Flambeau Indian Reservation. And while other kids my age were out being kids, I was doing something drastically different.

At the tender age of 12, I was building a business – a technology-handyman business to be exact.

What I had discovered was that the surrounding area was predominately home for retirement age folks all in need of a little technology help. And I had an unwavering drive to become their solution. So with some initial referral help from my teachers and parents’ friends, I came in to gobble up market-share. Since this was pre-Geek Squad days, business was-a-booming!

Here I was, a middle-school kid garnishing upwards of a couple hundred bucks an hour for things I enjoyed so much I would have done for free…

And the following 6 years would prove to be a huge learning lesson in business, money management, marketing and living an a-typical life.

How I Did It (and How the Concepts Still Apply)

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